President Obama selects Alabama Doctor as Surgeon General

President Barack Obama has chosen Dr. Regina Benjamin, a well-known and highly-respected Alabama family doctor, to be the next Surgeon General. Dr. Benjamin, a 1984 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, is an outstanding selection for this position. The President announced her nomination on July 13th.

Dr. Benjamin was the first black woman to head a state medical society, received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, and just last fall received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” She made headlines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, with her determination to rebuild her rural health clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, which serves 4,400 patients who would be hard-pressed to find care elsewhere. In my opinion, this selection of Dr. Benjamin to become Surgeon General will prove to be a great one. It’s a high honor to have an Alabamian – and especially one with such an outstanding background and record of dedicated service – chosen for this highly-coveted post.